{"id":52092,"date":"2022-01-03T13:50:57","date_gmt":"2022-01-03T21:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/01\/03\/wyoming-marijuana-activists-turn-focus-to-2024-ballot-for-decriminalization-and-medical-cannabis-initiatives\/"},"modified":"2022-01-04T01:45:18","modified_gmt":"2022-01-04T09:45:18","slug":"wyoming-marijuana-activists-turn-focus-to-2024-ballot-for-decriminalization-and-medical-cannabis-initiatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/01\/03\/wyoming-marijuana-activists-turn-focus-to-2024-ballot-for-decriminalization-and-medical-cannabis-initiatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Wyoming Marijuana Activists Turn Focus To 2024 Ballot For Decriminalization And Medical Cannabis Initiatives"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

Wyoming activists say they\u2019ve made solid progress in collecting signatures<\/a> for a pair of ballot initiatives to decriminalize marijuana possession and legalize medical cannabis, but they didn\u2019t get enough to make the 2022 ballot deadline and will be aiming for 2024 while simultaneously pushing the legislature to advance reform even sooner.<\/p>\n

Weather conditions, the ongoing pandemic and late approval for their petitions by state officials<\/a> made the prospect of putting legalization and decriminalization before voters this year especially challenging.<\/p>\n

Apollo Pazell, chief strategist for the campaign, which is being backed by the national Libertarian Party and Wyoming NORML, told Marijuana Moment that they\u2019d considered \u201ckeeping teams on the ground [to collect signatures] through the holiday season, and we may have made it, but the uncertainty was too much in my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ballot process is especially taxing for activists in Wyoming, with high threshold requirements for citizen initiatives. To have made the 2022 ballot, they would have needed to collect 41,776 valid signatures from registered voters per measure by February.<\/p>\n

Bennett Sondeno<\/span> of Wyoming NORML told Marijuana Moment\u00a0that activists are about 30 percent of the way through that goal, but making the deadline next month is not tenable so they are looking to turn in enough signatures by January 2023 to make the 2024 ballot.<\/p>\n

He said \u201cwe will push for legislative action this session and next, and fall back to the 2024 election if the legislators refuse to pass something workable.\u201d<\/p>\n

This ballot effort launched after state lawmakers advanced\u2014but failed to pass\u2014a bill to legalize marijuana in 2021.<\/p>\n

Pazell said that there \u201cwas a Hail Mary possibility that we could make it in 2022, but we only had September and October with the weather needed to collect in rural Wyoming, so it was a long shot\u201d to make the February deadline.<\/p>\n

Now, in addition to continuing to collect signatures, activists will be pushing lawmakers to file new bills that contain the language of the ballot measures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do believe that the fact that the initiative has collected the amount of signatures it has in the two months that teams were on the ground will show the legislators that the appetite is there and hopefully will result in action from them,\u201d Pazell said. \u201cWe have had multiple legislators, including some conservatives, who have told us that their constituents are asking them to reconsider their opposition. We are hopeful.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the medical proposal, patients would be able to purchase and possess up to four ounces of flower and 20 grams of \u201cmedical marijuana-derived products\u201d in a 30-day period.<\/p>\n

People with any of more than a dozen qualifying conditions\u2014including cancer, glaucoma, HIV, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson\u2019s disease and dementia\u2014would also be able to cultivate up to eight mature plants for personal use.<\/p>\n

The Department of Revenue\u2019s Liquor Division would be responsible for licensing marijuana businesses. The division would be required to promulgate rules by July 1, 2023.<\/p>\n

The division \u201cshall regulate the acquisition, growth, cultivation, extraction, production, processing, manufacturing, testing, distribution, retail sales, licensing, transportation and taxation of medical marijuana and medical marijuana-derived products and the operation of medical marijuana establishments in a manor that will not prove excessively burdensome for Patients to access medical marijuana or medical marijuana-derived products nor burdensome for licensed healthcare providers to certify their Patients,\u201d the text of the measure states.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, activists\u2019 separate decriminalization measure would impose small fines on people possessing up to four ounces of marijuana, without the threat of jail time. A first and second offense would be considered a misdemeanor punishable by a $50 fine, while a third and any subsequent offense would penalized by a $75 fine. Cultivating marijuana would be punishable by a maximum $200 fine.<\/p>\n

People caught in possession of marijuana in excess of the four ounce limit would face a maximum $500 fine. Those who are found to be under the influence of cannabis could be fined $50.<\/p>\n

A bill to legalize and regulate cannabis for adult use in Wyoming\u00a0advanced out of a House committee<\/a>\u00a0in March, but it did not move further in the legislature by the end of the session.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0poll released in late 2020 found<\/a>\u00a0that 54 percent of state residents support allowing \u201cadults in Wyoming to legally possess marijuana for personal use.\u201d Presumably, that would mean that the more moderate proposals stand to pass if they\u2019re certified for the ballot.<\/p>\n

Wyoming\u2019s neighbors Montana and South Dakota were among several states where voters approved marijuana legalization ballot measures<\/a>\u00a0in November.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Wyoming legalization legislation, which was backed by the Republican chair of the House Judiciary Committee, would have allowed adults 21 and older to purchase and possess up to three ounces of marijuana and cultivate up to 12 mature plants for personal use.<\/p>\n

The measure was also cosponsored by the House speaker and other top GOP lawmakers, but never received a floor vote.<\/p>\n

\n

Kentucky Democratic Leaders Say Medical Marijuana Legalization Will Be Top 2022 Legislative Priority<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post Wyoming Marijuana Activists Turn Focus To 2024 Ballot For Decriminalization And Medical Cannabis Initiatives<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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Wyoming activists say they\u2019ve made solid progress in collecting signatures for a pair of ballot initiatives to decriminalize marijuana possession and legalize medical cannabis, but they didn\u2019t get enough to make the 2022 ballot deadline and will be aiming for 2024 while simultaneously pushing the legislature to advance reform evenContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52092"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52092"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52093,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52092\/revisions\/52093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}